Agenda

Minutes Faculty Senate Meeting

January 29, 2003

Wednesday - 3:00 PM

SCI. Bldg. Room #208

Members Present:	Members Absent:
Ed Beaty Diane Bellinger Larry Duron Lester Hall Herman Hauschildt Mary Hays George Johnson Tim Nealon Sean Nighbert Sylvia Phillips Ken Poff Eleanor Seiferth Sandra Snavely Emily Staats James West	Dee Joseph Van Lopez David Weaver James West

Guests:

Frances Gaus, Allied Health, Respiratory Care, Tim Quinn, BIS, Philip Raue, Learning Resource Center, Sayda E. Rodriguez, Allied Health, Joseph Whitson, Natural Sciences

Call To Order

Tim Nealon called the meeting to order at 3:03 p.m.

Approval and Correction of Minutes

Sylvia Phillips read the minutes for the November 6 meeting.

Corrections will be made to the attendance section and then forwarded through email.

Treasurer’s Report

Sandra Snavely received financial records from Sylvia Phillips’ attendance at the TCCTA Faculty Leaders Conference in Austin Texas October 10 and 11 during the Faculty Senate meeting of January 29, 2003. Currently, the treasury contains $1500. This figure will be adjusted after Sandra examines the financial records.

Old Business
Committee Reports

Faculty Hearing Committee

Members of the Faculty Hearing Committee include Ed Beaty, Larry Duron, and Sandra Snavely.

Constitution Committee

On behalf of Larry Duron, Tim Nealon said that the Constitution Committee had no new business.

Professional Concerns Committee

The Faculty Handbook has been submitted.

No feedback on the handbook has been received from the administration.

Faculty Development Committee

Piper Professor Award

Dr. Dollie Hudspeth is the St. Philip’s College nominee for the Piper Professor Award sponsored by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. The winner of the competition will be announced this May.

NISOD Awards

The NISOD process is about to wrap up. There will probably be five nominees for this award.

Dr. Byrd recommends the formation of a NISOD Council to conduct nominations for faculty and professional people. The Staff Council would nominate staff members for NISOD awards.

Tim Nealon thanked Lester Hall for outstanding work as chair of the Faculty Development Committee.

Election Committee

Tim Nealon deviated from the agenda to express his desire for the Faculty Senate to have a smooth transition of Officers from the 2002-2003 to the 2003-2004 school year.

Tim is completing his last year as president.

Due to illness, Dee Joseph, current Vice President of the Faculty Senate, will probably need to be relieved of her duties.

A new group of members are needed for the Election Committee, as elections begin March 1. Some of the current committee members, who have served for two or three years, have understandably requested to be relieved of their duties.

Current members include Larry Duron, Dee Joseph, Van Lopez, and Sandra Snavely.

We will say more about elections at the next meeting.

Ceremonial Mace

Sandra Snavely, Interior Design, Southwest Campus, has contacted President Runnels about the ceremonial mace, but nothing has been heard back from the president’s office. She wants to receive written notification that money is available to spend on the mace.

Tim Nealon said he had spoken with the president, and she said $500 could be made available. He will provide further information at the next meeting.

For those who are not familiar with the ceremonial mace, Tim Nealon stated that Dr. Byrd has been in favor of a ceremonial mace for faculty members to carry during the graduation ceremonies. Research on obtaining the ceremonial revealed that having a company make one for us would have cost $5000. Former Chancellor Ramsey was not in favor of St. Philip’s spending that kind of money. As a result, St. Philip’s decided to use the resources of the Southwest Campus. To date, the Southwest Campus has drawn a design for a ceremonial mace which closely matches the mace which would have been purchased for $5000. Tim feels the drawing looks very nice. The Southwest Campus is trying to obtain funds and materials for creating the ceremonial mace.

Faculty Parking

Phil Raue of the Learning Resource Center requested additional handicapped parking for the faculty and staff parking lot at the corner of Mittman and Dakota, directly across the street from the Sutton Learning Center.

Handicapped slots are available to students, even though the slots are located in the faculty and staff parking lot.

Presently, there are eight (8) slots.

Each of these slots is full by 8 am each morning.

Although there are handicapped slots available in the Science Building faculty and staff parking lot at the corner of Mittman and Maryland, Phil feels this location is too far for people who need to walk to the Sutton Learning Center.

Phil would like to see two (2) to four (4) additional slots or, ideally, all slots on the East side of the parking lot available for the handicapped.

Tim Nealon will speak with Dr. Runnels about this issue.

Smoking Committee

Frances Gaus of the Respiratory Care Department spoke for Mike Dickman of the Smoking Committee.

Other than the University of Texas-affiliated campuses, St. Philip's will be the first to institute a "smoking-designated" environment.

The Southwest Campus will be putting up signage which advertises the "smoke-free" zones on the campus.

Tim Nealon said that if we see students, faculty, and staff smoking in "smoke-free" zones, we need to tell them to smoke elsewhere.

One of the Faculty Senators asked if we could call campus police if there are violations. Tim said the St. Philip’s campus has made it official that there are "smoke-free" zones.

Another Faculty Senator noted that the Student Policy manual needs to include information about the new "smoke-free" zones.

New Business

Faculty Senate President’s Report

President’s Council Meeting

Tim Nealon attended the President’s Council Meeting January 21.

Dr. Burton crow reported a twelve (12) percent increase in enrollment.

There will be a tightening of budgetary expenditures. An article in the January 24 issue of the San Antonio College Ranger titled "Budget Crunch Looms" reports that Texas State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn expects a $12 billion deficit in the state budget, a projection which could cause major cutbacks for state-funded colleges and universities. Visit the San Antonio College Ranger website,

http://www.theranger.org/articles/?id=n20030124budget

for further details.

Campus Ministry handed out a schedule of its activities, including its Wednesday "mass and meal" program. Each Wednesday, the ministry alternates between a Protestant service and a Catholic mass.

Representatives from Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s office visited the campus and requested written comments from faculty and staff regarding 12 categories pertaining to the governance of the college: organization and management, educational service delivery, personnel management, community involvement, plant operation and maintenance, financial management, asset and risk management, purchasing and warehouse functions, computers and technology, student services, food services, transportation, and safety and security.

Salaries will be discussed after the chancellor search is further along.

Academic Affairs Meeting

Sean Nighbert attended the Academic Affairs meeting for Tim Nealon.

Dr. Byrd states that there may be an eight (8) percent cutback in the budget.

Approximately eleven thousand (11,000) students are enrolled at St. Philip’s this semester.

Department heads need to keep track of Title III furniture. This furniture is to remain in the classrooms and not be taken to faculty offices. Department heads¹ need to keep track of the chairs.

Dr. Byrd was asked to announce an in-house search for chancellor. Currently, eighteen (18) people serve on the committee, including Tim Nealon. The committee is asking in-house faculty, staff, and administrators to nominate good candidates for the chancellor position.

A consulting firm has been hired to conduct a search for chancellor. The traditional application process will not be the only method used for selecting the next chancellor.

Carole Keeton Strayhorn’s office is to inform the Alamo Community College District of its findings in eighteen (18) months.

There is a distinct possibility that the job duties of the chancellor will be redefined. At one of the meetings for the chancellor search, committee members were asked to complete an exercise in which they responded to the phrases "It is important for a chancellor to be able to _____" and "It would be nice for a chancellor to be able to_____." Responses to these questions will help in identifying the ideal candidate.

Monday through Thursday Class Schedules

One of the Faculty Senators has a wife who works at Northwest Vista. There, students attend classes Monday through Thursday, leaving Friday free for faculty committee meetings. The Faculty Senate has been asked to explore this option for St. Philip’s.

Other Faculty Senators said that the Monday through Thursday class schedule was observed during the late 1980s. A problem with the schedule was that too many faculty members left the campus after 12:00 noon on Friday. Furthermore, many students find the current Monday through Friday schedule makes it easier for them to work more hours on full- and part-time jobs.

_____

¹I deliberately used the term "department heads" instead of the more accurate "department chairs" to avoid confusion with the furniture.

Opening the Building on Saturdays

Joe Whitson reported on the problems he faces when teaching classes at 8:00 am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Campus security does not have the buildings open. Except for the library, student support services such as tutoring, records and registration, the cafeteria, and the bookstore are unavailable. The district computer server is also unavailable on weekends. Continuing Education students have trouble getting into their building(s) for classes. When Gool Castleberry was acting dean of Arts and Sciences, she made sure the building was open at 8:00 am on Saturday mornings. Joe does not feel Saturday students should be treated like stepchildren.

Tim Nealon will speak to Eddie Harris, who is in charge of evening and weekend operations, about having the buildings opened in a timely fashion on weekends.

Other Allied Issues

Tim stated that when a faculty member was on campus Martin Luther King Day as part of the UTSA Bridges program, two people chased the faculty member on campus. When the faculty member went to campus police to report the incident, no security personnel could be found.

When visitors come to St. Philip’s for various activities and events on weekends, the school needs better maps and/or signage so visitors are not wandering around lost.

During registration week, the cafeteria should be open.

Electorate To Be Heard

Faculty Leave Slips

There have been instances in which the Payroll Department is accepting leave slips lacking faculty signatures.

Faculty should authorize leave slips and should check pay stubs carefully to insure that leave has not been wrongfully deducted.

Graduation Ceremonies

One of the Faculty Senators feels more faculty should attend graduation. The senator wanted to know if we as a Senate could do anything to increase the number of attendees.

Tim said that department chairs have the most influence on faculty attendance at graduation ceremonies.

Another Faculty Senator said that the Thursday night ceremony held in December is difficult to attend if the faculty member must report to work Friday morning.

At the next Faculty Senate meeting, we can discuss strategies for improving faculty attendance at graduation.

Need for Committee Members

Pat Williams of the Staff Council asked Sylvia Phillips to announce that the Culture Fest and Juneteenth Committees need additional committee members. Culture Fest is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, from 10 am to 8 pm. Please contact Pat Williams at 531-3332 if you are interested in serving.
Adjournment

The Faculty Senate meeting adjourned at 4:01 pm.

S i g n a t u r e s

___________________ _________	___________________ _________
Sylvia E. Phillips, Ph.D. Date Recording Secretary Faculty Senate 2002-2003	Timothy J. Nealon, Ph.D. Date President Faculty Senate 2002-2003